


How Things Turned Out

by Shatterpath



Series: AgentCorp October Prompts #ACOP2019 [3]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Children, Exes, F/F, Past Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Protective Alex Danvers, Protective Lena Luthor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-09 02:56:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20987672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: A meeting years later doesn't have to be awful.





	1. Maggie

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I used some tropes here, but I like how it played out. :)

"Well this is an unexpected surprise. How have you been, Detective?"

"Lieutenant," Maggie said easily as she shooed out a very confused rookie, clearly unsure how he'd gotten sucked into the pond with the big fish. One elegant eyebrow arched up. "Being back in Gotham was as exciting and challenging as I remembered, but it was a sideways promotion."

"Lieutenant," Lena echoed, but there was no mockery in her tone, the potential confrontational nature of the reunion backing down.

Before Maggie could say a word, a strident and so very familiar voice carried over the babble beyond the half open door.

"Back off! If I need to bring the badge into this, you damn well bet I will!"

Well, not the way Maggie wanted to bump into her ex after so long, but at least she knew the hothead hadn't changed past recognition. What she didn't expect was a long sigh from Lena. That wasn't a neutral reaction.

Hmmm.

"Joey!" she yelled for the rookie, who nervously poked his head into the room. "Go retrieve Agent Hothead for me."

"Uh… yes ma'am."

With the retreat of the kid, Lena chimed up in a deadpan that hid deeper emotional currents. "You'll find it's Director nowadays. She's not a fan of people getting that wrong."

Right on cue, Alex burst into the room, all fire and worry.

"Though the hothead part is still accurate."

Maggie knew bumping into Alex was an inevitability, but this wasn't even in the scenarios she'd imagined. Though she was woman enough to enjoy the look of naked shock on her face.

Alex looked good, but she had changed over the years. The severe bob had softened into a nice fade, currently in complete disarray to match the half-buttoned dress shirt. Dandied up in fitted slacks and shiny dress shoes, it seemed that Alex had tried on a bit of butch and found she liked it.

Like a dog with a fly in her ear, Alex shook herself out and her eyes jerked from one woman to the other. Her voice was surprisingly calm in comparison. "Brainy heard the news over the grapevine and gave me the head's up. I have one of mine headed over to check in on Edward as we speak, and Kara is with the baby."

Halfway to panicking, face open and vulnerable, Lena breathed deep and settled back into the uncomfortable chair.

Maggie blinked.

Oh.

Shaking off the weirdness of the situation, Maggie spoke up in the calmest version of her work voice. "Well, I only came in to check in on you, since you're so high-profile. Your statement is fine. We'll call if we need anything."

Clearly a bit off her game, Lena took a moment to gather herself and stand with a nod. "Umm, yes. Then, thank you, Lieutenant." 

Maggie returned the nod and spoke up again. "It was good to see you, Danvers."

"We should catch up," Alex blurted and the look on her face was hilarious, like the emotional equivalent of a twenty car pile-up. Lena paused in the doorway, a smile playing around her mouth, and gave Alex's arm a little squeeze. There was an intimacy to the touch that was unmistakable, no matter how low-key. It wasn't a statement of 'mine, back off', just a quiet reassurance that instantly soothed Alex.

Well, Lena was always her own breed of classy.

Maggie couldn't resist a little tease, her voice deliberately gentle. "Let's not make this any more of a habit, huh, Luthor? I really don't think that face would hold up in prison."

Quick as a whip, Lena calmly fired back, "oh, I don’t know, Luthors seem to look good in orange."

Even as Alex looked utterly shocked, Maggie cracked up and Lena left with a smug smile and a warm chuckle, dragging along a baffled Alex with her.


	2. Children

So, here Maggie was, nearly two weeks later and feeling out of sorts about seeing her ex casually. It was dumb, but past was always there.

As though cued, Alex suddenly stepped from a car that had pulled up, pausing to duck and speak to the driver for a moment. There was no missing the sling across her torso clearly holding a baby close. Slinging a big tote bag over her shoulder, Alex strode over with that loose, assertive stride.

In those quick moments, Maggie could see how her ex had grown into herself, into what she had become with time.

"Hey," Alex said as she approached the table and Maggie forced a smile.

"Hey. You've got your mini, I see."

Setting down the bag, Alex sat, hand cradling the baby's head protectively. "Yeah, she's sacked out for a few hours so I brought her along and I don't get as much time with her as I'd like." Clearing her throat, Alex tugged back the edge of the stretchy sling to reveal a little cherub with a shocking ruff of flaming red hair. "We named her Kim."

Maggie squinted at her. "Did you really name your kid after Kim Possible?"

And only then did Alex finally smile, wide and warm, giving Maggie a little kick of memory.

"You're the first one that figured it out right away!"

"Nerd."

For just a moment, the years fell away and were quietly set back on the shelf of memory where they belonged. Over drinks and a meal, they caught up on one another's lives and found out that they could still connect.

Laughter even rang out as they relaxed. The shaking of Alex's torso disturbed baby Kim, who fussed and whined until coddled back to sleep. For long moments, Alex was clearly lost in the child, the soft adoration in her like a warm fire. Doling out a kiss to that flaming hair, Alex left little Kim to sleep boneless against her and refocused on her surroundings. To break up the heavy moment, Maggie fell back to teasing.

"I'm half surprised I didn't nab you for speeding."

"Yeah, well, I'll have to be grateful lieutenants don't do that sort of scut work."


	3. Scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't completely sure where I was going with this, but the exchange at the end helped me finish it up. Thank you, Muses!

"So you and Lena, huh?"

It was said carefully, carefully enough to not mean offense, so Alex didn't take it.

"We both had… maybes, inside the circle, if you get my drift, but somehow found each other." A little huff of a laugh was a familiarity that caused just a little twinge to the emotional scars. "Shocked the hell out of one another, and then Kara."

"Yeah, I bet." With a smile, Maggie teased, "is she your biggest fan now?"

"Very! After we scandalized her in fine fashion by getting caught fooling around --though we'd barely gotten past PG-13, for fuck sake-- we both nearly got our bones hugged to powder."

"How is Kara?"

"Good. Carries on as she always does, finds joy where she can, just like the rest of us."

There was no mistaking the melancholy there, Alex's eyes cast off into the mental distance and Maggie left feeling awkward.

"Well at least she got rid of the useless boyfriend."

It was a lame stab at humor, but it brought Alex's attention back to the present with a smirk that said it all. Encouraged, Maggie spoke again.

"And speaking of man-children, how's Winn by the way? You haven't mentioned him."

"Yeah, funny that," Alex hedged, an edge of strain in her voice. "Mon-El came back in time, if you can believe it. Yeah, turns out time-travel is actually a thing, who knew? And it seemed like he'd changed, but yeah, not really. Growing a beard only made it more obvious that he was a useless boy playing at being a man. Anyway, he was married, but still found time to jerk Kara around."

"No!"

"'Fraid so. Thankfully, he finally went the hell away for good eventually and Winn decided to go with him and play with even fancier toys in the future. We got another genius in exchange. The aforementioned Brainy."

"That's quite a nickname."

"It makes sense in context."

In the pause that followed, tinged with a whiff of awkwardness, Maggie spoke up softly. "So everything worked out okay?"

Alex smiled, slow and bittersweet.

"Yeah, they did."


	4. Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a tad tropey, but I don't mind, because it turned out nicely. It FEELS right, y'know?

Lena swore to herself that she wouldn't be that partner. She really did. But she still ducked out of running her cursed empire and tracked down wife and daughter.

The fretful twist of jealousy writhed and hissed like a snake under her heart, fed on her guilt and fear… that vanished with Alex's smile. A smile that went from delighted to concerned to a soft fondness that brought real tears to Lena's eyes. When shaky feet finally dragged her over, open arms were all the invitation she needed to take up Alex's lap, curling her body around Kim, face buried in darkly red hair.

"I'm sorry, I…"

"Shhh, love, it's all right. We missed you too."

While self-conscious of other patrons close by, of Maggie at her back, Lena drew strength from her love, from the trusting child she was every bit in love with.

"It's hard to be away from both of you."

One hand curled around the back of Alex's neck and the other stroking the baby, Lena felt calm settled over her again. Loss, or even the feel of it, never did good things to her psyche, no matter that she was nearly two years deep into intensive therapy. It felt like a step back to be so desperate in front of this person, in front of her loved ones. But any weak aopology died on her lips when she twisted her upper body to say something to Maggie.

Maggie, who's eyes were soft and wounded and so, so sympathetic. "It's okay, Lena. This is a weird situation, and you should be able to come see your daughter and girlfriend any time you need to."

"Wife." Maggie blinked and Lena continued on quietly. "We got quietly married months ago, but I don't want to share that with the world."

"Oh," was all Maggie could say for a moment and a whole opera of emotion flickered over her face before she looked determined, then sly. "Get it Danvers! Glad to see you happy."

Alex merely chuckled and tugged Lena close to kiss her cheek.


	5. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the muses took a break from the 17th (the prompt was 'surprise'. No, the irony did not escape me. :/ ) I suddenly have this lovely gem. This little 'verse was an unexpectedly delight I have to say, born in just letting my brain do what it wanted. I love that magic!

The reality of family was understandably a loaded subject for Lena. She had once honestly believed it was a magic never to be hers.

Then came the Danvers.

Despite the egregious misunderstandings with Kara, Lena still adored her, considered the first to really chip away at the lifetime of armor, decades of pain and danger. Then the extended group of friends drew her in… and Alex became a standout. 

Alex. Still smarting from losing her first love, still made a real effort to include Lena, drew her in with that kindness, became her Christmas hero despite Sam's heteronormative matchmaking efforts, became exactly what Lena needed.

They pushed and pulled and made their own dance of mind, bodies and hearts until they became something even stronger. It took a long time, and rightfully so. Alex still had heart-mending to do and Lena had emotional deserts to cross before she could be a good partner in a relationship, but they made it. The careful and slow pace had been their best effort, gave them a firm foundation to dance on, to be together with a soundness neither had anticipated and both loved.

It got them through safety scares, through hurts and doubts and fights and disappointments. Their careful building of something strong even got them through losing out the first time on adopting a child. That had been heart wrenching in a way that still amazed Lena. She had been so utterly terrified and so breathlessly eager that the fallout had left her wrecked.

Alex even more so.

They'd sloppily left others in charge of their empires and crept away to a quiet stretch of beach far from home to lick their wounds, to find their way back to one another. Wounded and sad, they persevered, bolstered one another through the terror of trying again. Together they walked right up to that line that had blown up in their face the first time, only to find their perfect child waiting for them.

In those moments, and in so many moments since, every hardship had been worth it, a thousand times over.

As though sensing her mother's high emotion, Kim woke and fussed for attention.

"Gimmie," Lena ordered imperiously with a wide grin.

"Brat," Alex said with amusement and carefully slid the body harness loose once Lena had jumped up from her lap. Watching wife and daughter flirt sweetly gave her more happiness then she had ever dreamed of.

And in that, Maggie found herself letting go of the past in a way she had never completely been able to do. Who knew seeing her ex-love would let her heal and not destroy her all over again. Something in the shift of energies, some infinitesimal thing no one would be able to put a finger on, had Alex's attention shifting to Maggie.

That gentle smile felt good against the quiet scars.

"Glad to see you got what you wanted, Danvers," Maggie said quietly and reached out to give Alex's arm a squeeze before she finished off her drink and stood. More businesslike now, she smiled at the happy couple. "Now, some of have important jobs to do and I should get back to that. See you around, slackers."

That earned her chuckles, Alex merrily calling after her. "Hey, my friend Lucy is finally back in town to help me run the FBI. She's a real firecracker. I could set you up?"

Maggie relished the belly laugh that shook her.

"Yeah, maybe I'll just take you up on that offer."


End file.
